The phrase, “And the LORD spoke to Moses . . .” is repeated often in the book of Leviticus. That phrase introduces each new revelation from God to the nation of Israel.

There have been times in my life when I have wished that God would just send a prophet to me to tell me what I should do. Perhaps all of us struggle with questions about God’s will for our lives and how we go about making what seem at the time to be momentous decisions.

But even as I read those words in Leviticus, I am reminded that God has sent prophets to me, many of them, to speak into my life. All their words are found in the Bible at my fingertips. I have the words that God gave to Moses so I can be led in the same way that Israel was lead.

It seems to me that if I treat my neighbors the way that Scripture commands me and if I respond to God in love the way that Scripture commands me, everything else will fall into line. Jesus told us this in Matthew 22:

“He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

Matthew 22:37–40, CSB

Maybe the best way to proceed is to trust that if I am faithful to God in the small things, he will take care of the large things.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Proverbs 3:5–6, CSB

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This post is a continuation of focus on Philippians 4:8 in which Paul gives us a strategy for managing our thoughts and channeling them in a positive direction. The verse reads:

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

Philippians 4:8, ESV

This post concentrates on the second trait of what we should focus our thoughts on. Paul tells us we are to focus on what is honorable.

The Greek word that is translated as honorable has at its root the idea of fear or respect so it carries the connotation of something that evokes respect or should be honored. Lofty is another word that the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament offers as a possible English translation.

Another command by the Apostle Paul comes to mind when I read the definition of honorable.

“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

Colossians 3:2, CSB

So one way to look at this is to set our minds on things of which God approves, those that he commends to us in Scripture. Certainly, Scripture has to be our standard, and to have it as our standard, we have to read it, and seek to understand it.

We should also focus on God and his love for us. Jesus reveals to us the face of God and the extent to which he will go to bring us into relationship with himself. We serve an honorable God who loves us deeply. It is never a bad idea to remind ourselves of this in the middle of all the mundane tasks we need to muddle through on a daily basis.

I wonder if there isn’t another application to this. In 1 Corinthians 13:5, Paul tells us that one of the characteristics of love is that it does not keep a record of wrongs. Could it be that we are to think as well of others as is humanly possible? Maybe we should focus on the honorable parts of their behavior rather than focus on the negative aspects.

Certainly, this is difficult at times, who hasn’t been tempted to throw a pity party for himself when things aren’t going the way we think they should?

But part of maturity is to use our brains to redirect our emotions into a better expression than we might otherwise choose. I’m not referring to a Pollyanna-type denial of reality. This is more of an attempt to broaden the scope of consideration to take into account the promises of God toward those who are in relationship with him.

Yeah, I struggle with this as much as anyone. But maybe we can encourage each other to look up and see God in the midst of the mess.

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“The loss of loved ones, debilitating and fatal illnesses, personal betrayals, financial reversals, and moral failures – all of these will eventually come upon you if you live out a normal life span. No one is immune.”

Timothy Keller in Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering

As I was reminded in a sermon recently, each of us is one diagnosis away from being in a situation that we have dreaded and have never wanted to be in. Every day each of us is faced with something that at the same time has the ability to push us off our equilibrium and is completely beyond our control.

Some will tell you that “God will never give you more than you can handle” but I’m finding as I get older that all of life is more than I can handle alone. Without the promises of Scripture, I would not know where to turn.

At times we can relate to Job when he said:

“I was at ease, but he shattered me; he seized me by the scruff of the neck and smashed me to pieces. He set me up as his target;”

Job 16:12, CSB

As hard things come up, I find two of Jesus’ promises encouraging:

“I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”

John 16:33, CSB

“And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:20b, CSB

Remembering these two promises and focusing on all the rest of the promises in Scripture is a way to navigate through the hard things.

No matter how bad it gets, God has not ceased to be in control, and Jesus will never cease to be with us.

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I think that everyone who has made it through middle school has faced some form of rejection. The feelings of not fitting in and the constant pressure to conform to some undefined standard are difficult to navigate, especially if one does not have an adult to walk beside him to assure him that those feelings are normal, and will pass.

As adults, we can look back with the understanding that the rejection and put-downs came from other middle schoolers who were just as confused and scared as we were. But in the moment, it was hard to realize that those cool kids really didn’t have life figured out.

So in that moment, the taunts and put-downs hurt a lot and were very confusing. As one of the consequences of living in a fallen world, Middle School is just something that we have to endure.

Fast forward to adulthood. There are times when we find rejection in places where we should never find it. I’m thinking of our biological families and our churches. Neither of these institutions should be a place where we are ostracised or treated badly, but sadly, some families and some churches are not loving environments and the result is hurt and confusion.

Because those two institutions should be environments where hurt and rejection should be minimal or nonexistent, when it happens, it seems to make the pain more intense. People spend years working through the hurts caused by irresponsible parents and church leaders. I know for a fact that those hurts run deep.

That’s the bad news.

For the believer in Jesus, here is the good news.

Jesus knows what it is like to be rejected by those who should have welcomed him. The Apostle John writes:

“He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

John 1:11–13, ESV

Jesus was rejected by the very people who should have recognized him as their Messiah, King, and Savior. He felt that same sense of being an outcast, he understands what it is like to be on the outside looking in. He is a Savior that understands what it is like to be us. He understands what it takes to work through the rejection without becoming bitter or numb.

So, we can bring those hurts to Jesus in prayer and release those who perpetrated the hurt into Jesus’ hands. Those who were in authority will have to answer to Jesus for their failure to protect those who were given into their care.

I have learned that I can trust that Jesus is big enough to take care of the hurt and deal with those who caused it.

If you are encouraged by this post or would like to make a comment, please use the comment form below to offer your feedback. If you are reading this in an email and would like to comment, you can reply to the email or click on the “Read in browser” link below to go to the web page where you can enter a comment. I enjoy hearing from you.